The Health Corner Vol. 42 – Chiropractic Vs. Medical Care II

Last time, we discussed some of the differences in thinking between a chiropractor and a mainstream medical doctor. I would like to continue along these lines now.

Let’s start by talking about diet. What are good dietary principles? Certainly those promoted today using the USDA approved food pyramid are not healthy. The present nutritional paradigm has done nothing to eliminate or reduce the ailments which continue to adversely affect our society. And these are the guidelines the medical community adheres to and asks its patients to follow. But I, as a chiropractor, have been subject to an intensive study emphasizing the natural healing principles … of which diet is the most important part. In fact, my studies have taught me to use natural therapeutics instead of surgery and drugs, which often only treat symptoms, and not the cause of disease.

This is where the differences lie between the chiropractic and medical professions. Most people are not aware of the training that we receive in pathology and cellular metabolism, gross anatomy, anatomy and physiology, and study of the endocrine system. All of these subjects are taught using the same medical textbooks that medical students use. But our application of the knowledge we acquire is focused on health and healing rather than control and management of symptoms.

I have often referred to the difference between the two aspects of health care as health care management versus sick care management. I am sure that if one were to objectively analyze this statement, he or she would quickly realize that there is a tremendous difference between the two disciplines. Understanding those differences can shed a lot of light on what kind of healthcare one is actually receiving.

It is often thought, and erroneously so, that a chiropractor is only concerned with working with one’s joints and spine, removing things called subluxations or dysfunctional segmental units in the spine. While it is true that this is one thing we focus on, there is so much more to what chiropractors can do in many states, and especially in Illinois.

In Illinois, the law states that a chiropractor is ‘a primary health care physician and has the privilege and right, granted by the state, to treat all kinds of conditions and ailments using natural means’. This is what I personally do with Nutrition Response Testing, and when my patients and I work together, great results are achieved. I’ve seen this time and time again, and yet, because chiropractic and Nutrition Response Testing are largely misunderstood in the community at large, the opportunity afforded to the sick is often not realized. The possibilities of what can be done for ones’ health can, in many situations, be astounding. All that is required is that a person realize his responsibility for his health in the areas of diet, drink, breathing, exercise, rest, and thought. He must begin the process of controlling these six elements instead of letting them control him. Doing this, he creates an environment in his body where health and healing can occur.

This is what makes, in my opinion, a true holistic practitioner. This kind of doctor considers a human being as a functional whole—spirit, mind, and body. This really comes back again to the first true definition of health, which always takes into account the physical, mental and social well-being of an individual. It is looking at the individual from the entire perspective of what that individual is, and not just as an accumulation of cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems that need freed of disease or infirmity. It involves the understanding that the life process is not mechanistic but rather a dynamic organism, constantly adapting to its surroundings in order to survive. Because the body can do a great deal to insure its survivability, a mechanistic view of its function is too simplistic a model to consider seriously. The quantum model as used in Nutrition Response Testing and the six natural principles of health mentioned earlier, far better elucidate on the functioning of living organisms and especially the human body.

I hope you will consider deeply what I have said here, so you can make a fully informed decision on one of your most important assets … your health.